# Is "Towards Zero" by Agatha Christie a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (Dodd, Mead and Company, 1944) is identified by: The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, June 1944), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (July 1944) by about a month; it introduces Superintendent Battle in this novel. The true first is US Dodd, Mead (June 1944), preceding UK Collins (July 1944); the official Agatha Christie site confirms Dodd, Mead as the true first.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, June 1944), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (July 1944) by about a month; it introduces Superintendent Battle in this novel
- The first US printing is issued in quarter cloth over brownish-gray paper-covered boards, with the spine and front board lettered in brown and the fore-edge left untrimmed
- The original pictorial dust jacket should carry its printed price at the top of the front flap
- Publisher imprint reads Dodd, Mead and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Agatha Christie |
| Publisher | Dodd, Mead and Company |
| Year | 1944 |
| True first | US edition |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, June 1944), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (July 1944) by about a month; it… |
| Book-club edition exists? | Yes |

## Points of issue
The true first is the US edition (Dodd, Mead, June 1944), which preceded the UK Collins Crime Club edition (July 1944) by about a month; it introduces Superintendent Battle in this novel. The first US printing is issued in quarter cloth over brownish-gray paper-covered boards, with the spine and front board lettered in brown and the fore-edge left untrimmed. The original pictorial dust jacket should carry its printed price at the top of the front flap.

## Is this the true first?
The true first is US Dodd, Mead (June 1944), preceding UK Collins (July 1944); the official Agatha Christie site confirms Dodd, Mead as the true first.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
The book-club edition is bound in plain boards rather than quarter cloth and carries a jacket with no price and a 'Book Club Edition' imprint at the foot of the front flap; a jacket clipped at both top and bottom of the flap is a further BCE warning.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Towards Zero* by Agatha Christie a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/towards-zero
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.